Pointers: Recommended reading 09-08-08

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Why time management matters Source: BNetBlogger Salma Shah hypothesizes that a person’s perception of time ultimately could help or hinder their success in the workplace.

People who fail to take time seriously — perpetually missing deadlines or arriving late at meetings — tend to be perceived by their co-workers as “feeble, wishy-washy and inept,” Shah writes.Shah speculates that most people develop their attitudes toward time during childhood but adds that learning time management skills can help them counter their natural tendencies.

How to lose your best employeesSource: ComputerWorldManagers beware: Your top workers can and will get new jobs if you give them good reason to start looking.

In a recent article, ComputerWorld highlights five mistakes that managers make that can drive away employees.

The first mistake is to “keep the creative juices bottled up,” management experts say. This is particularly true with technology employees, who often have strong views, one expert said.

A cautionary tale of Google DocsSource: New York TimesNew York Times blogger David Gallagher explains how he ended up being the unintended recipient of some sensitive corporate data posted on Google Docs by a major publishing company.

As Gallagher explains, someone sent him an invitation to collaborate on some Google Docs spreadsheets showing traffic data for numerous corporate Web sites. The invitation was intended for another dgallagher.

“There was a time when it would have taken a fair amount of criminal activity to get access to this much information about a company’s internal workings and Web site performance,” Gallagher writes.

Management by the numbers (literally)Source: Business WeekIn an excerpt from his book “The Numerati,” Stephen Baker explains how IBM has attempted to improve productivity of its tech consultants by automating some basic management decisions.

The concept requires developing extensive profiles of all consultants, with details about all their skills and experiences that might figure into a management decision — though staying away from confidential personnel records.

The goal is to develop algorithms that make it possible to commoditize employees so that software can be used to analyze their potential value to specific projects, taking into account both their talents and their salaries.

The Census Bureau hasn't established a time frame for its cloud computing plans, including testing for scalability, security, and privacy protection, as well as determining a budget for cloud services.